Tag Archives: X-47B

An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator aircraft is transported on an aircraft elevator aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). US Navy Photo

A senior member of the House Armed Services Committee is imploring the U.S. Navy to ensure that the service’s forthcoming Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance the Strike (UCLASS) aircraft will be designed with enough range, payload and stealth to be relevant in a contest air environment. Read More →

X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator is towed into the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) on May, 13 1980. US Navy Photo

The Fiscal Year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will not force the U.S. Navy to restructure its Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft program, service officials said. Read More →

An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator conducts a touch and go landing on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77). US Navy Photo

The U.S. Navy plans to take the Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator (UCAS-D) aircraft out to sea onboard an aircraft carrier this summer to test how well it operates together with manned aircraft around the ship and on the flight deck. Read More →

The Northrop Grumman X-47B preparing to launch off of USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) on May, 2013. US Naval Institute Photo

The U.S. Navy has pushed back the release date again for a draft request for proposals (RfP) for its Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft program, service officials told USNI News. Read More →

As potent weapons as they have been in the years since the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, unmanned aircraft — or drones as they are colloquially known — will have to evolve as the U.S. moves to counter rising challenges in the Western Pacific. Read More →

The X-47B on the deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on Nov. 10, 2013. US Navy Photo

The U.S. Navy appears to have shifted its position on the requirements for its next generation carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Navy officials told USNI News.

Instead of developing the planned Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) to only conduct operations in uncontested airspace, the service will instead pursue a design that can be adapted over time to operating against higher threat levels.

The U.S. Navy has a begun a second set of sea-trials for its Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator (UCAS-D) aircraft onboard the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) about 60 nautical miles off the Virginia coast.